Lies, Tragedies, and Other Tricks of the Trade
by Mrs. Blink and Miss Itt
Summary: The world of Shinobi is but a web of lies and deception. It's a well known fact, one that these particular people were all aware of. Their knowledge of that fact, however, did nothing to stop them from getting horribly ensnared. Now, follow these seemingly unrelated, yet intrinsically linked ninjas and villagers as they try to escape this web. (M for language and violence) OCs
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings and Disclaimers:**

Warning, this writing piece may or may not include the following:

-Heavy use of profanity.

-Detailed descriptions of violence.

-Suggestive themes.

You have been warned, and as such, I, the author of this story, hold no liability should you read something that disturbs you in any way relating to the above mentioned themes.

I own nothing but my own OC/s and the side plots of my own creation. The canon storyline, characters, and the world they all reside in belongs solely to Masashi Kishimoto. I do not intend to make profit from this work, not now, and not ever.

**Chapter 1: Enter: Smartass-sensei!**

"I should probably warn you, a few of them can be pretty rowdy. Are you sure you…"

Iruka was cut off by the purple haired woman as she lolled her head half-heartedly towards him, a small smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. Iruka huffed and gave her a lazy frown. The impact of the sour look was lessened by the evident bleariness of his eyes and the dark bags that hung underneath them. She just continued to stare at him languidly.

"Don't give me that look, I'm being serious."

Bored, dull blue eyes blinked slowly at him from behind black frames. His own red-rimmed eyes narrowed.

"_Chizuru_."

"Iruka."

Giving one last huff, Iruka succumbed to his pounding headache and sat back down on the couch as his friend flicked through his students' assigned work. Groaning and holding his head in one palm, he reached for his tea. God, he felt sick…

"Bloody hell, Iruka. Either _you_ quit the fucking moaning of your own accord, or _I'll_ see how I can shut you up."

The brunette paused, ignoring the threat, and frowned up at Chizuru. "You're going to have to watch that mouth of yours. I don't want my students picking up any of your foul language."

At this, the woman scoffed and snapped the folder of work shut. "Yeah, yeah, save your breath. The Hokage already gave me _that_ lecture…" She trailed off with a grumble, but perked up again as she turned back to Iruka. "Besides, this should be fun. I'm finally getting back out of the house."

He only hummed and leant back slowly into the sofa, making himself comfortable and closing his eyes. Iruka could hear his curly haired friend lithely rummaging around for the last of the students' work, occasionally pausing to give a small snort of amusement or a hum of contemplation. After a while, he felt a blanket get thrown haphazardly over him, and he peeled his eyes back open.

Chizuru was halfway to the door, and looking back towards him, tucking a senbon needle in between her teeth with a nonchalant expression. Sighing, she gave a lazy smile. "Just get some rest, Iruka. You look like shit."

Throwing a hand up in mock surrender, he closed his eyes again and leant back into the couch. "Fine, have fun. Look after them for me, will you?"

He heard Chizuru chuckle as she opened his front door. "Will do."

The door clicked shut behind her with a sense of finality. Groaning again, Iruka threw his legs up and onto the couch before scooting down and pulling the blanket up to his chin. Dear God, he hoped she knew what she was doing. A grimace formed itself on his face before he rolled onto his side and got comfortable. But even more than that, he hoped that his students behaved themselves. For their sake.

*Scene Break*

Huffing, Sakura looked around the classroom with a slight frown on her face. All around her, the majority of her classmates chatted and bantered idly. It wasn't so unusual, she supposed. She got to school early enough almost every day, and it was usually like this. Save for one main difference. Usually, their Sensei, Iruka, would be sitting in front of the class and doing the last touch ups on a lesson plan, or rereading through an assignment, or double checking a test whilst he waited for the bell to sound and for class to officially begin.

Today, no one sat at the desk.

She wasn't the only one to notice the teacher's absence, apparently.

"Hey, does anyone know where Iruka-sensei is?" A scruffy looking boy with red marks on his cheeks and a puppy on his head called out from the back of the room.

A few conversations stopped, and people turned around in their seats or leant on the tables.

"Yeah, that is weird; he's usually here by now." Choji mused out loud.

Slowly, more students joined into the discussion.

"I wonder if he's coming today?" A blonde girl pondered as she rested her head in her hand.

Frowning, Sakura turned her attention to Ino. "Why wouldn't he be?"

Puffing out her cheeks and giving a melodramatic sigh, she tilted her head to the side. "How am I supposed to know? Jeez, I was just thinking out loud, no need to pounce down my throat."

Drawing her head back with a disgruntled expression, the pinkette grumbled a response under her breath. "Like you're one to talk, I was just asking a question, is all."

"Maybe he's sick? There has been a flu going around lately." Shino tried. A few kids nodded and shrugged their shoulders.

"Or, maybe we're all over thinking this and he's just running a little late." Shikamaru pointed out, head on his desk and idly toying with a pencil. "I mean, it's not as if class has started yet. Just you wait, he'll probably show up with a few minutes to spare."

"What do you mean, 'a few minutes to spare'? Class starts in _less_ than a minute." Ino mumbled.

The class' musings were halted by a screeching of shoes over a wooden floor, followed by a thud as the person was wrapped around the doorframe from the momentum of their sliding. Groaning and peeling himself off of the frame, Naruto hobbled into the classroom, rubbing the right side of his face tenderly.

"I made it, I'm not late! The bell hasn't gone yet! You can't give me a detention!" He hollered in a pained voice.

Shikamaru winced at the sudden volume change. "That's great, really great, but who are you talking to?"

The blond paused and looked around before a grin crept onto his face. "Iruka-sensei's away? Sweet! Do we get a substitute teacher?"

"We don't know yet."

A mischievous sort of look glinted in Naruto's eyes, and Sasuke, who had been silent for the whole time, let out a low groan, suspicious of where this was heading. Sakura's heart fluttered in her chest as her attention was pulled back to the striking, dark haired boy that sat behind her, and she tried to keep herself from blushing as she averted her eyes quickly.

"Awesome! You know, we should totally set up a booby trap and see if they fall for it!"

A few excited giggles and whispers sounded around the room, before falling silent abruptly.

Naruto froze as someone cleared their throat behind him, and watched warily as the other students appraised the newcomer curiously.

She was a woman who looked about in her mid twenties, with thick and curly, dark purple hair tied low and over one shoulder, glasses, and a senbon sticking out of her mouth. Her clothes weren't the standard ninja garb, and instead seemed almost casual. Black pants, a light coloured jacket, a blue scarf, and no headband. Though her attire was casual, her stance spoke volumes, as well as how silently she had entered the classroom. This wasn't a civilian that they were looking at, she was a ninja. The woman looked uninterestedly down at Naruto as she continued.

"Sorry to disappoint, but- Eck?!" She jumped and flinched away from Naruto's swelling face as he turned around with an almost comical look of surprise. "What the f-" She cut herself off with a strange sounding cough before continuing. "What the hell happened to your face?"

"I… uh…" The blond trailed off and rubbed the back of his head nervously, and the woman raised an eyebrow. "I sort of… might have…"

"He ran into the doorframe." Kiba finished for him. Naruto let out a squawk of indignation and began stammering out excuses.

Flipping a dark lock of hair from her face, she affixed Kiba with an overly dramatic look of gratitude before turning back to Naruto. "_Thank you_. Jeez, was it really that hard to spit out? I don't bite, you know."

Turning on her heel, she set the papers in her hand down on the teacher's desk with a sigh before grinning and turning to the class.

"Okay, as you may have noticed, Iruka-sensei is away sick at the moment. Which means, chibis, that you're all stuck with me until he gets back." A few murmurs ran around the classroom before she silenced them with a hand gesture and continued on. "So, I think we should start with some introductions. My name is Chizuru Akadō, but you know what, you can call me Chizuru-sensei. Over the course of the next however-long-we-have-together, I'll try my best to learn all of your names, and most likely fail horribly. It's nice to meet you all." She finished off with a melodramatic bow before tilting her head up and grinning sheepishly at them.

This earned Chizuru a few snickers and giggles from her temporary class, and she straightened up, seemingly quite proud of herself. Clearing her throat, she turned towards the blond boy again. "Okay, let's start with you. What's your name?"

Naruto grinned and motioned to himself with his thumb. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! You'd better believe it!"

"Right, okay Einstein, I think we're going to have to get you an icepack. That face of yours doesn't look too good." Ignoring his cries of protest and the stifled sniggers of his classmates, Chizuru turned back to the class and called out loudly. "Hey, does anybody know where we can get an icepack?"

"I can get my own." Naruto grumbled.

The woman looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Chibi, you've got one side of your face that looks like it _hasn't_ been used to hammer giant nails into some sort of building. I don't want to chance losing that, as well."

The blond flushed and gritted his teeth.

One half of her mouth twitching up in a horribly concealed smirk, Chizuru swept her eyes back over the class. "Okay, I'll need two volunteers that can go get an icepack for me," Hands shot up. "_And_ _bring it back_." She was greeted with more smirks than she was comfortable with.

Sighing and looking around, she picked two students that looked trustworthy. "Okay, you, and you." Chizuru pointed to a startled Hinata and a stoic Shino. "You two look like I can trust you not to do anything stupid. Can you please stand up for me and tell me your names?"

Hinata's eyes widened and she shot up nervously, closely followed by a more composed Shino. "I'm Hinata Hyūga, it's nice to meet you, Chizuru-sensei." The girl stammered.

Chizuru smiled and nodded before turning to the boy with the dark glasses.

"Shino Aburame, it's nice to meet you, too."

"Okay, Hinata and Shino, I'll try to remember those names. Would you guys please go get this guy an icepack for his face?"

The two nodded and exited class whilst Naruto grumbled beside his stand-in Sensei. Narrowing her dark eyes and sighing, Chizuru turned her head towards the student.

"Quit your bi-" Again, the woman coughed strangely, drawing a few inquisitive glances from the class. "Quit your moaning and groaning, I just did you a huge favour. You're going to thank me when you wake up tomorrow morning and can actually _see_ out of that eye of yours."

"Gah- Whatever! It's even that bad, you know!"

Chizuru looked up and held out her hands reverently but lazily as she made her way back to her desk. "Oh Lord, may you please allow me to be there when he catches a glimpse of himself in a mirror." Grinning, she looked back to the fuming blond. "Okay, since you're standing, can you help me out and give one of these to everyone whilst I do the role call?"

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. "No way, not after that."

Grunting dispassionately, Chizuru took the clipboard with the role and stood up. "Fair enough, sit down in that case." Naruto pursed his lips and hesitated before he nodded and made his way to his seat. "Good, now I'm going to call out your names. When I get to yours, you can come down here and grab a worksheet of each sort off of my desk. This is what your Sensei wanted you to do for the first few hours of today. Now, this is meant to be revision, so I won't stand up here and bore you to death with an hour long lecture on something you've already heard. If you have any questions, feel free to either just raise a hand or come up to my desk, and I'll help you out to the best of my abilities." She paused and scanned the class' faces. "Any questions?" No one's hand went up. Chizuru clicked her pen and poised it at the ready with a smile. "Good, then let's get things started."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Enter: The Candy Crushing Champion**

After class was dismissed, Sasuke dawdled out of the classroom. Every now and then, a girl would try to start a conversation with enthusiasm that near-on scared him, but he'd keep quiet and brush her off. One would think that they would have gotten the message by now, but apparently that just hadn't happened. It was as aggravating as it was tiresome. Having said that, however…

The Uchiha let out a sigh as the crowd parted and began to dissipate. It didn't mean that he _didn't_ find it grating at times.

"Long day?"

Pausing, Sasuke turned his head to the flamboyant yet flat voice of someone he hadn't seen in near on a year.

"Kata?"

The odd teen tilted her head and appraised him with eyes darker than his own. "Were you expecting someone else?"

Sasuke frowned slightly. "No, I wasn't expecting _anyone_." He couldn't help but let his eyes flicker to her outrageously bright and curly red hair, this time sporting streaks of purple and orange as well as it tumbled over her thick, dark jacket.

She smiled deviously as she caught him silently appraising her hair, but didn't take the hint. "It was time for a change. Change is always so much more interesting than the same old same old, no~?"

He averted his eyes in a way reminisce of an eye roll and continued to walk through the emptier streets of Konoha. Sasuke didn't have to turn his head to know that she was following him; he could hear her footsteps trail behind his own, quieter ones.

"You haven't been around in a while." It was a statement, but Kata could still pick up on the question in his tone, and waved a hand.

"Grown up stuff. Top secret, need to know only, that sort of thing."

At this Sasuke snorted in amusement. "You? Grown up? Give me a break, Kata. What have you actually been doing?"

The older girl didn't say anything, but flashed him a grin that all but spelt trouble. He just sighed and looked away. Why had he even asked?

"So how's the Academy treating you? Any… radical rumours running rampant 'round campus?" At this, Kata sped up and spun around in front of him, leaning down and uncomfortably close to his face; beaming detachedly whilst her eyes followed his own like a hawk. Craning his head back and stopping abruptly to avoid walking into the older girl, he gave her a small frown.

"Not really. Our Sensei's away sick at the moment, but that's about it."

"Oh." Kata said dejectedly and straightened up, fixing her oversized hooded jumper. "Well that's boring. Couldn't you have at least spiced it up a bit for me?"

Sasuke looked up at her and gave the slightest quirk of his brow.

Sighing sadly, she turned and started walking, this time leaving the Uchiha to trail after her. "So did you guys get a substitute, or were you left to your own devices?"

"We had a substitute."

Kata rolled her eyes and mimicked him with her hand before waving it encouragingly. "Names, Uchiha, names. Names would be nice, thank you."

He gave a disgruntled click of his tongue at the stickybeak that had plagued him for years. "Chizuru Akadō."

Sasuke almost jumped out of his skin as the girl whirled around suddenly with a delighted expression. As soon as the look on her face registered with him and his past experiences, he wanted to groan. Usually, it only seemed like she was putting on a front of interest, but every now and then, he'd get this reaction. His shoulders tensed. It usually got scary from here on out.

"Ohoho~ You met Chizu-chan?!"

Sasuke frowned in confusion and irritation as he all but shoved the teen out of his face. "_Chizu-chan_? Just how close are you two?" He stammered uncomfortably.

Kata pointedly ignored his question and continued drilling him with her own, once again batting his hands out of the way and leaning close, as if she didn't want to miss a twitch of his face as he told her. "Why didn't you tell me before? My goodness, that little piece of information should have taken precedence above all else. Shame on you for stringing me along for all this time with the boring formalities of conversation! Tell me, what was your first impression of Chizu-chan?"

Sasuke was driven back a few steps, but managed to get some semblance of a guard up and between them both. "I don't know, okay? Jeez, back up, already! You don't need to be breathing down my neck." He snapped, finally beginning to lose his cool.

Kata's face dropped to a lackadaisically blank expression as she held up her hands and backed up a few steps.

Sasuke took in a deep breath and exhaled, giving her a wary leer. "Has anybody ever told you that you can get a little scary when you're enthusiastic?"

Kata just cocked her head before she closed her eyes and the grin returned to her face. Not the sort that set off warning bells like before, but one of amused detachment. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise that I was scaring you."

The raven haired boy just glowered and refused to dignify the jibe at his pride with a reply. She was impossible.

The two continued in relative silence after that, towards the abandoned compound. The emphasis put on _relative_. Whilst Sasuke walked with all the stealth and purpose that you'd expect from a ninja in training, Kata scuffed her feet and skipped in broken little bursts, unwrapping a lollypop loudly and pocketing the rustling wrapper as she went. She slurped on her treat for a bit before Sasuke felt her dark eyes on him once again.

"What do you want?"

Tilting her head, Kata plucked the lollypop from her mouth contemplatively. "I was just curious, what was your first impression of Chizu-chan?" She said it calmly this time, no trace of the bubbly fervour from before evident in her voice or demeanour.

Sighing, Sasuke looked up the street. It wasn't long until he'd arrive home now, and then he could get rid of her. For now, he might as well keep her happy and answer her questions. "She was… a little uncouth compared to our usual Sensei. I didn't think she was actually a Sensei at first. By the end of it, though, she seemed alright."

Kata smirked and tilted her head back to look at the sky as she walked. "So, she was a little rough around the edges? Kinda callous at times, constantly wisecracking, inconceivably foulmouthed? Let me guess, she probably wasn't all that excited about whatever class work your usual Sensei left you, but was overly exuberant when someone wanted to talk to her about what a ninja career actually entailed. Am I right?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow slightly and turned his head to look at her. "Actually, you've got her spot on. Except for the so called 'foul mouth'."

Kata caught his eye before tilting her head and grinning up through her lashes at the boy. "Well, I am good at what I do." She paused before cocking her head and looking away, muttering to herself. "So, she has got the ability to filter what comes out of that mouth of hers… Go figure."

Sasuke's brows furrowed further, and the question that he'd asked before but never got an answer to clawed its way out of him. "Just how well do you know Chizuru-sensei?"

Kata glanced at him and tapped her chin, pausing for a moment before answering. "Well, if my previous observations of your stand in Sensei were anything to go by, I'd say pretty well, wouldn't you?"

The Uchiha boy narrowed his eyes. "Don't answer my question with another question; can't you just give me a straight answer for once?"

Kata's gaze flickered between him and something up ahead, a phony smile plastering itself to her face. Sasuke followed her eyes and internally groaned when he saw the Uchiha compound just up ahead.

Stopping and spinning towards him with the hollow Cheshire grin, the words started pouring out in a lyrical tone that made them almost seem rehearsed. "I did give you a straight answer; it was just that the rhetoric properties of the question were lost on you. Hardly my fault, if you ask me. Now, I know you hate me invading your privacy and all, so I'll just be on my way. You know, I'd hate to intrude, or make you uncomfortable in anyway."

Sasuke's face dropped incredulously at the last part. Before he could open his mouth to protest, however, Kata whirled and dashed back down the street, disappearing in a side alley a little ways down. He looked after the older teen for a bit before grumbling and clicking his tongue in annoyance. Something caught his eye on the ground before him.

It was that damn candy wrapper. Sasuke growled and picked it up off the street and shot a glare after the notorious dropper of candy wrappers. Turning, he ducked under the tape that sealed this section of the village off from any passersby. So, she was back to playing her stupid games then.

Whatever. He didn't particularly care, anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Irresponsibility, or Taking a Golden Opportunity? **

Naruto kicked up the dust as he walked, hands in pockets. Around him, Konoha was waking up and beginning to buzz and come to a sleepy sort of life as the sun rose. It was a pretty sight, if you liked that sort of thing, and it put the blond in a fairly good mood. He could afford to take his time to get to school today, as he'd learnt after yesterday's spectacle and had woken up earlier.

Absentmindedly, Naruto brushed the area underneath his battered eye. True to Chizuru's word, the swelling had gone down astronomically since yesterday, and all that was left was a faint, dark ring. He furrowed his brow slightly. Would she be supervising their class again today? He sort of dreaded the thought of her being there, but at the same time, hoped that she would. Yeah, she wasn't quite in his good books after embarrassing him in front of the class, but after that, she'd been pretty entertaining.

Well, as entertaining as a Sensei who insisted on making sure that they completed those mind-numbing worksheets could get, anyway.

Huffing, he swung open the door and walked through the corridor to his classroom. Sure enough, there sat Chizuru on top of the desk, chewing on a senbon and narrowing her eyes as she read through what Naruto assumed were more work sheets. Well, she was on time at least, which was nearly more than he could say yesterday.

Every now and then Chizuru tutted or shook her head slightly. This work wasn't even serious revision, Iruka just gave her some easy stuff to keep both her and the kids occupied. Jeez, he couldn't at least have a bit of faith in his old teammate, now could he? Everything was just a tedious repeat of yesterday, with a bit of rephrasing and a wildcard thrown in here and there. She sighed melodramatically and pushed a few stray curls back out of her face. Still, it was important basics, and it was what their actual Sensei wanted them to do, so Chizuru didn't have much choice in the matter.

Chizuru pursed her lips and stacked the worksheets neatly on the corner of her desk. Keeping the kids engaged with _this_ dribble was going to be tough. Her eyes narrowed and flicked up to the blond as he sat down at a desk near the back of the room, close to the window. Oh yes, she was going to have to keep a _very_ watchful eye over them all today.

Slowly, more and more students trickled into class and filled up the seats. By the time the bell sounded, it seemed as though the whole class was accounted for. Humming and standing up with a grin, she faced the kids.

"Moring chibis. Okay, we'll do things the same as we did yesterday. I'll call your name, and you come up and grab a worksheet from the desk. We'll get stuck straight into it and try and get through as much as we can so that we might be able to free up the afternoon a little more. That way, we'll have some more time to spend on your practical work. Sound good?"

Chizuru was met with a mixture of enthusiastic nods and dispassionate shrugs.

"Righto, first up, Shino Aburame."

As the boy with the high collared coat and glasses got out of his seat, Kiba leant over to his left and nudged Shikamaru.

"What?" The boy, who still looked half asleep, turned to look at him.

"Do you reckon those sheets are going to be like the ones we got yesterday?" The boy asked with evident distaste in his voice.

Shikamaru pursed his lips as well. "Hope not, they were so boring. I actually fell asleep halfway through one."

"That's not really saying much, Shikamaru." Choji muttered from the other side of the lazy boy.

The said boy just rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Choji."

"Choji Akimichi." Their temporary Sensei called out from the front. Huffing as he got up out of his seat, he turned to his friends as he passed them.

"Please, we all know you. Besides, I'm sort of with you on this; they weren't fun in any measure."

Shikamaru and Kiba grunted in acknowledgement as he went to collect his work sheet. Their attention was called to a certain blond boy who leant backwards in his seat in front of Choji's.

"Hey, you guys, if it's the same boring stuff as we did yesterday, what do you say we ditch and go actually do something instead?"

Shikamaru's brow furrowed slightly. "I'm all for it, but I don't know if we can get past her or not. With Iruka-sensei, we know we've got a few minutes to get some distance between us and the Academy, but I don't know about Chizuru-sensei. She might actually be pretty sharp. Maybe."

The trio glanced at Chizuru, who'd just sent Choji back to his seat and was calling the next person up. They weren't too sure about her. She was obviously a Chūnin, just like Iruka, but she _seemed_ less strict and a lot more sociable than him. Though less strict didn't necessarily equate to less observant, it did give them some confidence in being able to slip away unnoticed.

"Hey, what's up?" Choji asked as he slid back into his seat and saw the looks of concentration on their faces.

"Never mind for now, let's have a look at the sheet. Is it the same, old same-old?" Kiba snatched the sheet from his hands and began scouring it. After a while, he frowned and gave it back, grumbling exasperatedly. One by one, they all glanced over the sheet, which bore a striking resemblance to the one that they were given yesterday.

"Alright, that's it, I'm with Naruto." Kiba announced in a hushed tone.

"Wait, what's going on?" The young Akimichi questioned, confused.

"We're sneaking out and going to do something fun. You in?" Naruto leant close and whispered. He looked to his spiky-haired friend, who gave an affirmative shrug, and turned back, nodding once.

"Sweet, let's just wait until after she finishes the role, then we'll wait until she's distracted. We're using the window on your left, Choji." The scruffy boy with the red marks tapped the table, punctuating his plan as he relayed it to the other three. They all nodded before turning to the front, unusually attentive to whatever their Sensei said or did.

*Scene Break*

"Um, excuse me, Chizuru-sensei?" A short girl with dark hair that went by the name of Minori raised her hand uncertainly. Jerking her head towards the youngster who sat by the door, Chizuru raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, Minori, wasn't it?" When the girl nodded her head, she continued. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, um, it's just that I'm having a little trouble working out what they actually want me to give for this question. The wording is a little tricky, and I don't know if they want me to find the percentage of chakra used or if they want the percentage of chakra wasted."

Chizuru jumped up off of her desk with a smile. "Sure thing, I'll take a look at it."

At the opposite end of the classroom, subtle glances were thrown between four boys as their sensei turned her back. A blond nodded, and they all rose up out of their seats stealthily. Creeping up and over Choji's table, Naruto made it to the window first. He lifted his hand to open it wider, but fell back with a sudden shriek as a senbon needle appeared in between his fingers, just nicking the web.

The sudden noise made the class jump, and Choji skittered back in time to avoid Naruto from falling back onto him, only to bump into Shikamaru. The students whirled to look at them as they stood there like four kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar, already either stammering out excuses or just sighing and resigning themselves to their fates.

Getting to his feet and sucking on the tiny wound, Naruto made eye contact with a suddenly stern Chizuru, who for once didn't have a senbon sticking out of her mouth. Eventually, bit by bit, her glare silenced the class until you could hear a pin drop. The blond gulped. Oh jeez, they were in for it now.

"You four, does it even cross your mind that in another setting, that action right there could be easily enough to warrant jail time, or even an execution?"

"Huh?" Horrified and confused looks erupted around the classroom, but she seemed not to notice and instead ploughed on straight ahead with the lecture.

"Look, normally I wouldn't just make you stand there as I wag my finger in your faces in front of the rest of the class, but I think that this could benefit the rest of them, too. What you four attempted to do was abandon the rest of your class." She crossed her arms under her chest before she took a deep breath and went on. "If this were a mission, and your classmates were your teammates, you'd not only be facing severe punishment for disobeying orders, but you'd be putting the rest of your team in utter jeopardy. They could get hurt, maybe even die."

There was a moment of silence as the weight of her words sank in.

"Ah, but, with all due respect, Chizuru-sensei, this isn't a mission." A boy with dark hair but bright blue eyes that was seated in the middle stated. Hibiki, she thought his name was.

Turning her eyes to him, she nodded slowly. "That may be true, and I admit that I am blowing things out of proportions a bit here, but I feel that the earlier you all are aware of this, the better prepared you will all be when your reach the field. When you are out there, and the only people you can rely on are your teammates, you can't afford to think selfishly. If you do, you'll just wind up with their blood on your hands, and trust me, that isn't something that's easy to live with for the rest of your life."

The scrunched brows, wide eyes, and morbid faces finally registered with her, and she groaned and looked down dejectedly. Oh, come on, this was why she didn't become a Sensei in the first place; she wasn't all that good with kids. She really didn't mean to unnerve them so much. Still, better they have a sliver of reality pounded into them now than just let them go and do something stupid later on down the road. Looking back up at the children's reactions, she softened her expression.

"Whatever, that's enough doom and gloom for one day. You four up the back, go sit down on the other side of the room. I'll be chatting with Iruka later on to decide on your punishments. As for everyone else, I know these sheets are a bit of a bore, but just try and work through them to the best of your abilities. These are the basics that every Shinobi or Kunoichi needs to stay alive in the field. Make sure you pay at least a _little_ attention, okay?"

She finished up with a little smile and was met with nods. The four troublemakers scuffed their way across the classroom to spare seats on the other side. As pens once again began to scratch on paper, Chizuru made her way to the window to retrieve her senbon from the window sill. Looking at it with distaste, she wiped it free of blood before she pocketed it and made her way back to Midori.

"Okay, let's just run through that question again, why don't we?"

The short girl bobbed her head, and once again Chizuru listened, but at the same time, made sure that she kept an eye out for any other escape attempts. Though from the looks on their faces, she probably wouldn't have to worry about it quite as much as before. She internally sighed. Chizuru just hoped that she didn't put too many of them off with her little tirade.

Well, mostly she just hoped that Iruka would see this as a learning curve, and not just her running her mouth and needlessly scaring his students. If there was one thing she didn't need right now, it was a pissed off Iruka.


End file.
